[nitelightboy]

If anybody knows where I can find one, other than evil bay then I would greatly appreciate it.

[Vince]

Other than Ebay, you're looking for a Mesa dealer. If you want to go used, my preference is Ebay or Craigslist.

Here's a link to a local Mesa dealer near you...

http://www.mesaboogie.com/US/Dealers...___support.htm

[teof]

Dont mind me hijacking this posting. What's exactly is different between the difference versions of triaxis. I see that there is v2.9..another 2.0...2.1. ?

[dpm]

There's three versions that I know of, I sold mine a while back so I haven't kept up.
The first one is V1, then there's two V2's, which added an extra circuit board for Lead 1 Red. The difference between the two V2's is what's called the 'fat mod' on the later models. The 'fat mod' involves a few component changes to that extra Lead 1 Red board and sounds a little looser and has more gain, or so I hear.
The V2's also have continuous controller software.

[teof]

I see. sorry another questions. what's this phat mod about man?

[Flesh-EatingMonkey]

Try Guitar Center. I got a floor model just over a year ago @ a GC here in Phoenix. Full warranty and it only cost me $1000 after tax. I don't know if there are any of the floor models left, but I was told that all the GC's in the West were getting rid of the display models due to lack of interest/sales. Mine came from somewhere in California. Anyway, it's worth a try, might save you some $$$. I wouldn't worry about buying one on eBay either, just check the seller's feedback as always.

[teof]

Originally Posted by Flesh-EatingMonkey

Try Guitar Center. I got a floor model just over a year ago @ a GC here in Phoenix. Full warranty and it only cost me $1000 after tax. I don't know if there are any of the floor models left, but I was told that all the GC's in the West were getting rid of the display models due to lack of interest/sales. Mine came from somewhere in California. Anyway, it's worth a try, might save you some $$$. I wouldn't worry about buying one on eBay either, just check the seller's feedback as always.

pardon my ignorance. what's the floor model? is it like a normal multieffect like gt6? cos i havent come across pic of triaxis in that floor. usually see it mounted on racks. thanks.

[dpm]

Floor model - means floor stock at a store, like a demo model.

Cut and paste from a .doc at the Yahoo Triaxis group

The "Fat Mod”

TriAxis' shipped after June 97 have new “Lead 1 Red” as standard specification. Serial #'s below 5200 have Lead 1 “Recto Mod” (board TX04 added) and above 5200 have "Fat Mod". This mod is a circuit change to mode Lead 1 Red (both software and hardware). A kit is available, that will enable an authorized MESA technician to do the work. Look for one in your area or contact MESA directly. MESA advises that users test a new TriAxis at their local dealer to see if the new tone works for them, before having the modification done. If you're happy with the sound of Lead 1, you may not like the change. I believe this mod is for those users that don't use their Lead 1 mode often. This modification will expand their use of this particular mode.
The current tone is described as being "fat (of course), singing soloing tones that are super smooth", the high-end has been tailored (rolled off) for more balance. It emulates the circuitry in the Rectifier series of amp. Someone says that more closely resemble (somiglia maggiormente) to the Orange Channel of Dual Recto.
The most current software version for TriAxis is 2.0. Serial #'s above 1700 are version 2.0. When you power on TriAxis the panel lights will flash a "1" for Version 1 or "2" for Version 2.
If you’ve TriAxis and are still not sure if yours is with or w/o “Fat Mod” here’s how to find out: restore your factory presets (pg. 5 in the manual), then set your TriAxis on Factory Preset #01:

Lead 1 Red Preset # Gain Tre Mid Bass Lead1 Lead2 Master Pres. D.Voice
w/o 01 6.0 5.0 7.0 7.0 6.0 - 5.0 5.0 0.0 British Shred
w/ Fat Mod 01 6.0 6.5 7.5 8.0 5.5 - 4.5 5.0 0.0 Rectifier

w/ Fat Mod 10 6.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 2.0 - 5.5 2.0 0.0

From Version 1 to Version 2 the differences seem to be:

Treble Mid Bass Lead1 Master
+1.5 +1.0 +1.0 –0.5 -0.5

As I obtain more information I’ll post it here. I’ll still try to answer, or get an answer to any other questions on the mod or TriAxis in general that I get.
mcdermot@dmans.com

Difference between models

Version 2.0 allows for Continuous Control changes of all parameters within a preset with the use of a CC pedal (or multiple pedals one assigned for each facet of the channel, ie presence, lead, middle, treble etc). You could for instance get a pedal and assign it to at toe down be a clean sparkly sound then as you roll back the pedal assign it morph into a dirty sound as you the gain and presence etc increase.

Actually there are 4 TriAxis versions:
- v1.0 original ‘British Shred’, w/o CC s.n. <= 1700
- v2.0 ‘Recto Vintage’ (w/o “Fat Mod”), with Lead 1 Red Recto board and CC 1701 <= s.n. <= 5200
- v2.01 ‘Recto Vintage’ with a modified Lead 1 Red (“Fat Mod”), Recto board and CC 5201 <= s.n. <= ???
- v3.0 ‘Classic Boogie Lead’ (LoneStar) w/o Lead 1 Red Recto board, only CC ??? <= s.n. (Oct/2004)

However, looks like the user manual refers to Lead 1 Red as Recto Vintage Lead while the website describes it as Fat Recto.

Version 2.x has different Recording Outputs than Version 1.0 (as stated in TriAxis v1.0 manual, © 1992, Mesa Engineering): Record: These jacks "A/B" are the outputs of the Recording circuit. The jacks are individually voiced for clean rhythm playing and overdriven lead playing. The top jack "A" is correctly voiced for clean playing and allows the full spectrum of frequencies through for the brightest, warmest clean sounds. The lower jack "B" is EQ'd specifically for overdriven high gain sounds and produces the sound and feel of a power amp/speaker combination.

Fat vs non-Fat

I'm not sure of this, but I think that the first file (triaxis1.jpg) is a schematic of what Fat Mod does, and the 2nd file (triaxis2.jpg) is the original design. Lot's of changes happend so it's hard to say what's the most important part in the mod.
maarten@vanhelden.demon.nl

I opened the versions and this what is different: 2 capacitors removed, 2 resistors removed, 4 resistors have their value changed! They’ve on the board some adjustable that may need to "adjusted" differently though!
If it’s possible to compare those value on the little blue adjustable and got the right ones it would be easy to add the components that are removed for "Fat Mod" as they have their place on the PCB! So it maybe more involved then a simple modification. I was hoping it could be a simple task to modify back and forth.
Bnouille@aol.com


How to REVERSE the “Fat Mod”

From: "grisier" rgrisier@hotmail.com Rich
I’m not sure at all I want it changed. I'm getting v2.01 with "Fat Mod". I was curious as to what the exact changes were just in case I wanted to reverse it. I'll definitely try it out for a while before I do anything.
I took a look at the schematic of Dynamic Voice circuit. I calculated the transfer function and verified my results via PSpice. I may end up modifying that circuit also-- but again, I'll have to hear it first.

From: "satrucci7" satrucci@free.fr Rémi (France)
I don't use v2.01 TriAxis “Fat Mod” because I'm still waiting 2:90 for months because the PCB manufacturer (not Mesa) has produced hundreds of defective boards and they had to re-make them! The cool thing is that Mesa has brought some changes to the design of this boards to make the amp even better! I like to have all the options, so I wanted to know how to reverse the mod, but I haven't done it yet! First I want to test "Fat Mod" Lead 1 Red, just like you!

"Fat Mod" Reverse Modification Instructions

All mods are on the TX4 board (the Lead 1 Red board).
To reverse "Fat Mod" you’ve to add 4 caps and 4 resistors and change 2 resistors.

1) Add 4 resistors:
R9 :120 KOhm
R44 : 33 KOhm
R45 : 330 KOhm
R46 : 82 KOhm

2) Add 4 disc. caps:
C5, C6 & C12 : 0.001 µF
C22 : 47 pF

3) Change these 2 resistors near the center of the board and labelled MID & BASS. Replace them with:
R33 (MID) : 1 MOhm
R34 (BASS) : 10 Kohm
POSSIBILITA' DI SWITCHING ???
For me, w/o "Fat Mod" is more aggressive in middle & high frequencies than "Fat Mod", the low end seems a bit tighter as well. With "Fat Mod", I used to need to set Lead Drive = 8-10 to get a big aggressive sound, w/o "Fat Mod" 6-6.5 is more than enough! The sound is now huge, very metal, this way it matches the description of Lead 1 Red mode in the user manual. It took me 2 hours to do the mod! I you prefer, you can have it done by a tech. I'm the 1st guy who has reversed "Fat Mod" alone.

From: "tatetitofr" <tatetitofr@yahoo.fr>
My tech removed "Fat Mod" from TriAxis (followed the simple instructions posted by Rémy Satrucci) for the best 30$ I've ever spent in my life! The tone is much tighter in bass department, palm mutes are now huge and percussive, not unlike Lead 2 modes but in a more death-metal kind of way (read HUGE and FAT). High mids are more agressive as well, just at the right frequency. Gain seems to have increased, at the expense of a little more noise (barely noticeable). Now I can get a crazy rhythm tone with Drive = 5.5 and Gain = 6. Anyone liking metal rhythm needs to remove that lousy (pessima) "Fat Mod".
After the removal of "Fat Mod", Lead 1 Red went much closer to Suicidal Tendencies rhythm tone on the "Art of Rebellion" album than before. Before it was muddy, now it is tight and bouncy. Those are the tubes I use:
- Mesa special 12AX7 with the rubber thingy around for Lead 1 Red input (maybe Mesa SPAX7A?).
- other 12AX7 are various brands, a mix of Sovtek, Tesla and Chinese tubes. I've a dozen of unused 12AX7 that I swap now and then following my mood.
- I run a wet/dry/wet rig. Center channel is the power section of JCM 800 2203 head fitted with JJ EL34.
I use various Marshall cabs, an old 4x12" with Celestion G12-M70 (not available anymore from Celestion), 2 of 2x12" and another 4x12" fitted with G12T75. The effect is the same regardless of the cab... the tone is tighter and better.

From: "macegtr" <markku.hyvala@nokia.com>
I just made this modification by myself and I've to agree with other TriAxis owners. You don't have to be a metal player to find it much more usable w/o "Fat Mod". I just followed the instructions found from the Files section, bought some components and replaced them for the Rectifier board. I'm much happier with Lead 1 Red now.

From: "daves_mbox" <daves_mbox@hotmail.com> Dave
I'm thinking about REVERSE "Fat Mod" and I've a few questions:
1. I already have resistors in R45 & R44 and I've caps in C5 & C22. Should I? The directions above makes me believe that nothing should be in those spots. R9, R46, C6 and C12 are empty.
2. Since R9 and R46 are empty, do I use 1/4 or 1/2 watt resistors? What about the voltage on the caps? Does that matter?
I just want to make sure that I do it right the 1st time and that I buy the correct parts.

Version 3 TriAxis rear lower boards

From: Otoniel Acevedo <brokenvail@yahoo.com>
Boogie said that Recto mode is gone because the company that makes the board they use for Recto mode is no longer making the part. All other modes are going to remain the same. “We took Recto sound out with a passive component change, not IC's or programmed chips. TX2 PCB with all that programmed stuff on it, is exactly the same. v1 can't use v3 chip to update it. v3 is essentially v2 with a few less parts”.

From: J C <jbc9@yahoo.com> John
I've the new TriAxis and Mesa advice me that the replacement sound for Lead 1 Red is described as Mark I High Gain.

From: Werner Zoltán <zwerner@enternet.hu>
Does your TriAxis have the TX4 board (above the "big" panel, behind the tubes)?

From: Benoit Campedel <benoit@campedel.com>
TX5A! (c) 2004. Unit date (inside) from 10/2004.

From: Werner Zoltán <zwerner@enternet.hu>
TX5 is a new board, for sure. TX4 was for Recto channel, if you compare with Recto schematics, also the tone controller VTL's seem to be arranged like that. I read something about re-voicing TriAxis Lead 1 Red for the new LoneStar. What does it actually sound like? If it's not like a Recto-type distortion channel, this could be what they changed.

From: "Philip Harrison" <PhilipJHarrison@hotmail.com>
The pictures show only 4 LDRs and some diodes (implying a switching board more than an actual true preamp board), so the statement that they've gone back to the old design, makes me believe the fact it may be like a v1, but not exactly the same...
If v2 Recto daughterboard or components on it are the reason for the change, then v1 and v2 lower boards must be different and v2 isn't just a v1 with an extra board. My v1 doesn't need the new v3's TX5A board to do the original sounds. Original v1 did all preamp modes on the main rear lower board; there's only one board in the back section. The v2 main lower back board may have needed extra connectors and routing to handle the extra Recto board. Maybe the lower board is staying as the v2 was, but since it’s different from the v1 lower board the TX5A is required to do all the v1 lower board did. So we can see:
a) v1 and v2 are more different from each other, it's not just 1 extra board.
b) There's a slight difference between v1 and v3. Even if they're the same in terms of sound the v3's back lower and upper boards are different to the v1's.
Does v2 sound subtley different on any other modes other than Lead 1 Red? There are people preferred v2 to v1 on other lead modes. They might just have older/different valves but anyone A-B'ed v1 and v2 looked for difference in all lead modes which should be the same but may differ slightly.
My v1 needs no TX5A daughterboard in the back section to achieve the original sounds, so something's different somewhere...

From: Benoit Campedel <benoit@campedel.com>
What the (c) date of your lower board? Mine is 1991. I agree with your analysis. Maybe they had to change the lower board to switch the sound to the extra Recto board. Now that the board is gone, they’ve to 'switch back' to the lower board... and do some switching that they removed from the lower board. The manual explain that TriAxis is not really 8 preamps with different circuits, but 3 or 4 circuits, sharing a lot of things and components, with slightly different switching and values. All Lead 2 modes (G/Y/R) share the same circuit, the same for Lead 1 modes... except Lead 1 Red, but just for the v2! This means that all components required for the British Shred sound are available on the Lead 1 modes circuit.
My guess: TX5A is just the implementation on a separate board of the specific switching that was once (TriAxis v1) implemented on the v1 lower board, but no longer on the v2 lower board.
With this explanation, the sounds would be the same, for v1, v2 AND v3 for Lead 1 Green and Lead 1 Yellow. And is the same for v1 and v3 for Lead 1 Red, except the slight impact of having extra internal cables may be to do the switching.

From: Werner Zoltán <zwerner@enternet.hu>
Here's a pic of the non- "Fat Mod" TX4 board: http://w3.enternet.hu/zwerner/tx4.jpg (TX4-1.jpg)

From: "Philip Harrison" <PhilipJHarrison@hotmail.com>
I've v1 TriAxis which has not any extra boards in the back section, only the lower level board. Then there's double height (stacked) boards in the front. That means v1 has "British Shred" components on the main board. Therefore (per questo), they bypassed/left out in v2 and the signal sent to the Recto board. If v3 has another board for Lead 1 Red like v2, what you've can't be "British Shred" mode or they're wasting their time and money. This means you must have a Lead 1 Red no-one else has.

From: Benoit Campedel <benoit@campedel.com>
TX5A board I've is just behind the valves, in place of (it seems) the previous TX4. But... there's nearly nothing on it! I cannot be considered a full circuit. I do have 'something' on top of the lower level board, but it seems to be just some kind of routing.


From: "Philip Harrison" <PhilipJHarrison@hotmail.com>
Since all the eq bits and tubes are elsewhere, I've never been sure why Recto board needed so many bits in the first place! I assume v2 just used completely separate parts for everything, which may well not be necessary for either LoneStar or "Brit Shred" modes, whichever it is.
In Mesa website, although the description still mentions the Rectifier crunch, the table of sounds at the bottoms says:
Rhythm Green Vintage Fat Rhythm (Mark I, Blackface)
Rhythm Yellow Modern hyper-clean Rhythm (Mark IV)
Lead 1 Green Vintage Mark I Lead
Lead 1 Yellow Mark I Gain Boost
Lead 1 Red Classic Boogie Lead (diffs from Lead 2 Yellow Mark IIC+/Mark IV, maybe based on LoneStar)
Lead 2 Green Medium Gain Boogie Lead
Lead 2 Yellow Classic Boogie Lead (Mark IIC+/Mark IV)
Lead 2 Red Searing Boogie Lead

From: Werner Zoltán <zwerner@enternet.hu>
I'm interested in what character "new-old" Lead 1 Red mode has. I'm looking for high gain palm mutes, if you could record 20 secs of "Pull Me Under" beginning riff, would be cool. I didn't expect to A/B it with Recto Lead 1 Red or anything. I use an EVO7 pickup in bridge position, in a fibenare ash body GTR, Carvin TS100 (just sold an ENGL 830/30), Marshall 2x12" and Boss GT-6. I'm thinking about getting TriAxis for this setup.

Lift / Off / On Switch

The On/Off vs. Lift/Off/On switch (from top to bottom) seems to be a modification Mesa introduced following it's early(est) releases. I have an early release of TriAxis, it's version 2.0 non-Fat mod and I'm having a tech install the ground lift switch in mine while doing some other work on it.
labbypa@quixnet.net Paul

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __
From: Ben the pond <Banderos@telstra.com> Ben
Subject: Serial number

I bought a really old TriAxis last year ($800) and had it shipped back to Boogie for the once over and v2 upgrade... the approx cost another $1000. All up $2200 which is about what 2nd hand TriAxis go for here - but at least I know mine is now in top condition. They even replaced the front panel. Have just noticed the serial number ... 0002! Do I've the 2nd TriAxis made? It's a sticker on the inner side at the back next to V5 tube.

From: Phil Harrison <pharrison@tuvps.co.uk>
Sounds like it! I've got no. 0193 I think (and that's a late '92 one as far as I could tell from dates written on bits in the inside). How much did the upgrade cost?
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __
From: "Lars Andersen" <Slither@online.no>
Subject: Age and Serial number

Where's the serial number on TriAxis placed, I've looked around (w/o taking it out of the rack), but couldn't find it. How old it is from the serial number, is there a chart somewhere?

From: "John Ludolf" <j.ludolf@tiscali.co.uk>
The s/n is on the left side of the tube bay, just next to V5. It's visible while still in the rack. It's a stick on label, so I guess it's possible it might have become detached with the heat of tubes if you can't see it there. Regret, can't help you with the dating.

From: Sean Echevarria <sean@loomwebdesign.com>
Unfortunately they don't have very good records. A few years ago I hand delivered my v2.0 for repair. They were shocked that it was v2.0 since it is s/n 1243 (that I bought new in March 1993).

From: "Lars Andersen" <Slither@online.no>
I found the little sticker, turns out I've serial number 2267, any idea how old this might be?